-
Bunni halts operations after devastating $8.4 million DeFi exploit.
-
Users allowed withdrawals as Bunni prepares tokenholder asset distribution.
-
Relicensed smart contracts open Bunni’s technology to wider DeFi use.
Decentralized exchange Bunni has officially announced the closure of its operations after suffering a massive $8.4 million exploit that crippled its finances. According to a statement shared on X, the team confirmed that it no longer has the necessary resources to fund a secure relaunch of the protocol.
Bunni explained that the recent exploit halted its growth and left the project unable to meet the high costs required for a safe restart. The team revealed that relaunching would demand six to seven figures in audit and monitoring expenses, which it cannot afford at this point. Consequently, it concluded that winding down operations was the most realistic option.
Users have been assured that withdrawals will remain available on the official website until further notice. In addition, Bunni intends to distribute the remaining treasury assets to holders of BUNNI, LIT, and veBUNNI tokens, based on a snapshot taken after legal validation. The statement also noted that team members will not be included in this distribution.
Also Read: Bitcoin (BTC) Crosses $110,000 as Altcoins Record Mixed 24-Hour Movements
Losses, Code Vulnerability, and the Path Forward
The exploit, which occurred last month, drained $8.4 million from the exchange through a rounding error in its smart contract’s withdrawal function. This vulnerability allowed attackers to manipulate calculations during withdrawal transactions. Bunni later disclosed in its post-mortem report that the stolen assets were quickly laundered through Tornado Cash.
The project said it is cooperating with law enforcement to track the stolen funds and has offered the attacker a 10 percent bounty for their return. Despite the setback, Bunni took steps to ensure that its technology remains useful to the broader decentralized finance ecosystem.
Bunni’s Final Steps and Industry Impact
In an effort to give back to the community, Bunni relicensed its V2 smart contracts from the Business Source License to the more permissive MIT license. This decision allows developers to freely use and build upon Bunni’s innovations, including liquidity distribution functions, surge fees, and autonomous rebalancing mechanisms.
The team emphasized that a secure relaunch would take months of business development and a significant financial outlay, making continuation impossible under current conditions. With this announcement, Bunni becomes another DeFi protocol forced to close due to the growing financial and security challenges facing decentralized projects today.
Also Read: Ripple CTO Sounds Alarm Over Fake Wallet Security Upgrade Emails Flooding Inboxes
